hey! no, because I've used this for years, its like my official internet name! Besides, I lived the majority of my young life in Vermont. But Texas is a pretty cool place! Austin is a really nice city! Theres some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it's worth fighting for.

I did a double take when I saw one of your recent posts. Nice to have you back for all the Hobbit goodness

Congrats on graduating and moving on to 'real life.' Austin is a great place to get a good start. Best of luck to you there. Koru: Maori symbol representing a fern frond as it opens. The koru reaches towards the light, striving for perfection, encouraging new, positive beginnings.

"Life can't be all work and no TORn" -- jflower

"I take a moment to fervently hope that the camaradarie and just plain old fun I found at TORn will never end" -- LOTR_nutcase

Hi all, I'm Alessandro, from Pescara, Italy (but now I'm in L'Aquila 'cause studiyng computer science in it's university). I became fan of Tolkien since i read the trilogy, after that i read also The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion; than was the turn of Blind Guardian's music, and finally the movies. I found this comunity searching news about the next movie of PJ, and i was amazed about it. I wish to meet new people, to know other about Arda ...and to improove my english XD

At last, my favourite characters: - for the good forces: Boromir; - for the evil forces: Saruman.

*waves* Decided to sign up here finally, as watching PJ's recent vlog about the start of Hobbit filming really inspired me to want to start following TORn a lot more closely.

I'm an "old newbie", I guess you'd say -- read The Hobbit and LOTR when I was small, which was back in the 70s, and was so deeply attached to it all that I was the type to assemble laborious handwritten Elvish dictionaries and draw heraldic motifs in the margins of notebooks. I really took to the movies when they came out, and am pleasantly looking forward to the experience of watching The Hobbit movies develop over the next few years. Have never really been involved in the fandom, but it's nice to lurk around.

We are glad to have you here. Be sure to look at our Welcome section for lots of helpful information for people new to the boards. This is a great time to join in, as we have an exciting time ahead of us while The Hobbit is in production. Silverlode

"Of all faces those of our familiares are the ones both most difficult to play fantastic tricks with, and most difficult really to see with fresh attention. They have become like the things which once attracted us by their glitter, or their colour, or their shape, and we laid hands on them, and then locked them in our hoard, acquired them, and acquiring ceased to look at them. Creative fantasy, because it is mainly trying to do something else [make something new], may open your hoard and let all the locked things fly away like cage-birds. The gems all turn into flowers or flames, and you will be warned that all you had (or knew) was dangerous and potent, not really effectively chained, free and wild; no more yours than they were you." -On Fairy Stories

I'm glad you decided to step out of lurkdom and join us. We have a great community of fans here and you sound like you'll fit right in! Silverlode

"Of all faces those of our familiares are the ones both most difficult to play fantastic tricks with, and most difficult really to see with fresh attention. They have become like the things which once attracted us by their glitter, or their colour, or their shape, and we laid hands on them, and then locked them in our hoard, acquired them, and acquiring ceased to look at them. Creative fantasy, because it is mainly trying to do something else [make something new], may open your hoard and let all the locked things fly away like cage-birds. The gems all turn into flowers or flames, and you will be warned that all you had (or knew) was dangerous and potent, not really effectively chained, free and wild; no more yours than they were you." -On Fairy Stories

I'm an older newbie- henceforth I just noticed this thread.
[In reply to]

Can't Post

Hi everyone. I've read TORn news for years. I'm new to the boards. I used to hangout on the IMDb LOTR threads back in the day. I love the films, the books, WETA Workshop, the maps, virtually everything associated with the lore. Howard Shore's music is medicinal and inspiring.

About me- I'm into creativity, art, music and writing Epic Fantasy novels. My dream is for the movies based on my novels to be done in New Zealand with the WETA team. I'm obviously hoping sooner than later. It's great to have more movies to look forward to.

It's a really long story, and complicated. I'll heed your advice. Maybe by movie four, when they've made a few billions, I'll start meddling and demanding they find a role for my niece and all that. Until then I'll have to take a few chill pills, and perhaps restraints and a muzzle.

Making a joke of an old joke (Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons/wizards [ depending upon the T-shirt, etc, in question]). I admire that you've not only done well, but that you've finished your works at all. I have probably six novels started, but not the writer's discipline to finish any of them. There are a few writers on this board but it sounds like you're quite successful in the novel field (most here are journalists of one stripe or the other). I'll volunteer for a walk-on extra sort of part. I did acting a long time ago, in another Life (or so it seems)! "Be good, be careful, have fun, don't get arrested!" ---Marcia Michelle Alexander Hamilton, 7 Nov 1955 - 19 Nov 2009

I took the Tolkien route, which is insane- I was writing a story for friends who really loved it and told me I should publish. So, instead of trying to write 1 book, I wrote out an entire series from beginning to end to prove to myself I could finish it. That left me with a nightmare full of edits and rewrites. I had a 7 book/7 movie handshake deal. But the economic downturn hit and I was back to square one, as the parties involved couldn't go forward with my project. Well, not exactly square one. I had an agent and some excellent connections.

All the same, I admire any writer who has gotten into print. It's a difficult task. I was a features writer for a magazine, but it took too much time away from my goals.

And yes, you're MUCH further along than most ever get. My only hope is that it took me 9 tries and 29 years to complete my bachelor's degree. If I apply the same stubborness to writing then perhaps I'll have something published one day. "Be good, be careful, have fun, don't get arrested!" ---Marcia Michelle Alexander Hamilton, 7 Nov 1955 - 19 Nov 2009

Yes indeed. My story is High Fantasy and I tried my best not to build on another's foundation. In other words, no Elves, Dwarves, Dragons. It's not that I don't love Tolkien's world. I just felt it was best to start with a clean slate. All the same, it's impossible to have read Tolkien and not to be influenced by him. David Gemmel is another favorite writer. George R.R Martin is a brilliant writer, though my story is less adult than his. I want to cross over to a younger audience, as I see that as a key to a larger audience. I have a boat load of art and photos.

Lol, when the initial movie producer wanted to do my stories (before the economic bust) we talked about locations for filming, story-boarding. I did some artwork to show some of my creatures. We're still close friends. I will explain someday.

I don't want to say too much about myself except that I have been lurking for a while and now feel the need to occasionally post. I am a big fan (obviously) of Tolkein and I have (generally) enjoyed the Peter Jackson movies, and am interested in seeing what he does with The Hobbit now that we appear to be on that track finally.

as I harbor a nearly life-long love of high fantasy, I always keep coming back to Tolkien about every 10 years since my first exposure in 1980. My interest in Norse mythology rekindled my desire to reexplore Middle Earth, so I'm looking forward to learning a lot more about the dwarves and rune-lore here.

I'm very pleased that I finally understand and like Bilbo upon a recent reread of the Hobbit, but I've never forgotten my favorite Tolkien characters: Thorin and Beorn. I'm tickled my fascination with mountain men and baresarkirs is embedded within The Hobbit, so I can't wait to see how these play into the films.

Beyond Norse mythology, I have a fascination with Russia, feudal Japan, fur trappers and the Cold War era.

I'm about to embark on my Bachelors, while working full time in a law library. I hope to get my stories, screenplays etc. officially out there > wherever that may be.

Hope to eventually take a make up class and learn to sew too.

I'm floored by the knowledge and the camaraderie here. Hope to contribute in and around following Ori's path. :)

I'm new to the boards and wanted to introduce myself! I started reading TORN's main page back in 2001, but didn't look at the boards until recently. And I didn't start lurking here in earnest until all the Dwarf pictures started coming out. Now I'm hooked, and there's nothing left to do but join in! :)

I'm very much looking forward to participating in these discussions and communing with fellow Tolkien fans. When I first got sucked into Tolkien back when the LOTR movies were coming out, there were so many people I knew who were into Tolkien, I had no trouble finding company with whom to talk turkey. Then, everyone else seemed to move on, except for me. I'm rereading LOTR right now, and between that and the excitement over the The Hobbit films, I feel a desperate need to talk Tolkien, and I'm driving my friends and relations nuts in the process. Lurking on the boards has been a great outlet, and I'm hoping contributing will serve as an even better one!

As a side note, I love Hobbits, in part because I am one. I used to wish I were more Elf-like, but have embraced my Hobbitish tendencies.

Thanks everyone for the great discussions on here--looking forward to joining in! "Yes, but what about SECOND breakfast?"

and all of our other newer members! It's great to see you here! :) Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..." Dwarves: "Pretty rings..." Men: "Pretty rings..." Sauron: "Mine's better."

"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded b*****d with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.

Tolkien fan from age 12 when I read the LoTR Purple Emu Edition. I enjoy talking about Tolkien and the movies and hope to make some new friends here. Married with three semi-grown kids. I am currently restoring and repairing an old farmhouse that was passed to me which is a lot of hard work and lots of fun. I like to hike and spend time in the great outdoors. I am Catholic, a cancer survivor, part Cherokee and a writer. I am waiting impatiently for the promo pics of KingThrandruil. I'm into elves but dwarves are cool.

A friend recommended me TORN a few months ago, but I only discovered the forums yesterday, so here I am. Here are some randoms facts about me, divided into Tolkien related and non-Tolkien related

I read LOTR several years ago, and then TH. Read Sil only once, and should read it again, cause I don't remember much about it... Right now I'm rereading TH, and planning to reread LOTR as soon as I can. Didn't watch FOTR on the theater cause... well, because I thought it would stink and it'd ruin the books... Yeah, I know, shame on me!!! After that, I waited in line to watch the other movies, several times. I don't have a fav book, but fav chapters in each book. TT the best movie ever made, though. Waiting for the extended blurays to be published around here, and to be able to afford The History of Middle Earth, my big debt to Tolkien books is haven't read it yet. I try to avoid anything spoiler-ish, so I really don't know much about The Hobbit movie, but enjoy discussing the ideas that everyone has about what will be done. And absolutely *love* the Reading Room here, it allows me to release all my Tolkien obsession w/o torturing my family and friends, as HappyHobitess also said

Well, on the off topic, I also like George R. R. Martin, J. K. Rowling, Lewis Carroll, C. S. Lewis, and I read anything that is near me. So if you have any book to recommend, I'll thank you!!! I'm 27, am a vet, *should* be writing my Doctorate thesis, live in the south West, english is my second language (I'm sure you all realized this by now), also speak spanish, french (kinda) and portuguese (shoulda). Have 11 cats and 3 dogs, and enough with the random facts